


And Then There Were Four

by CookieDoughMe



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: AU from episode 2.03 - Love Machine, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, what if Audrey Prime stayed in Haven?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-04 18:12:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13370325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieDoughMe/pseuds/CookieDoughMe
Summary: AU in which everything is the same up to the point Duke drops Audrey Prime off at Kick ‘Em Jenny Neck, except she doesn't have a Brad in her life.This picks up the story a few hours later.Oh, and Evi hasn't arrived in Haven yet.





	1. Kick ‘Em Jenny Neck

“Look, I don't  _ know _ what happened, ok? I dropped her off at Kick ‘Em Jenny Neck like she asked. We'd agreed a time to leave so when she didn't turn up I went looking for her. She … she looked scared, more scared than I've ever seen anyone. She looked like she was afraid the ground would swallow her up or the trees would rip her apart, or… I don't know what.”

Duke paused, and the three of them looked over to the other Audrey, Audrey the newly arrived FBI agent who had been determined to follow up on a lead that she now appeared too traumatised to talk about.

“When I called to her she looked at me for a moment like she didn't know who I was, then … she did but she couldn't understand how I was there. It was like she'd thought I was dead, or that she was too lost to ever be found, or … something.”

Audrey wrapped her arms around herself without thinking. She should have been there with her namesake, this person whose memories she shared. She should have been there to share the burden of whatever this was, but what could have happened to scare an FBI agent so?

“It freaked me out a little, I don't mind saying, the way she looked at me to start with. But when she realised it was me and that I was OK just like she'd left me - she really pulled herself together. It was impressive. And so we made our way back. 

“She was shaking though she wouldn't have admitted it, and just as we got to the edge of the woods, she caught her foot on something and that was when she twisted her ankle. I suggested we go to the hospital, get her checked over, but that  _ really _ freaked her out.

“So, we came back here, I wrapped her ankle up, put some ice on it and gave her a whiskey. She needed the blanket too, she was cold from all that time outside, and she was still shaking. I don't know, maybe I should have taken her to the hospital anyway, or brought her to the station, but ...

“It's OK Duke. Thanks,” Audrey assured him. Nathan watched her walk through the galley to the woman huddled in a blanket on the bench by the bedroom, foot propped up on the next seat. It had to be hard for her, to see someone so like her so affected by … they didn't even know what. He would have to try to talk to her about it later. In the meantime, there was detective work to do.

“Did you see anything else when you found her? How did you find her exactly? Kick ‘Em Jenny isn't  _ big _ obviously, but with the woods…”

“She was right where she'd said she'd be going. And oh yeah, I saw this massively strange thing right next to her that I just didn't bother mentioning. Come on Nathan, don't detective me. I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything, don't know what happened. Except that something scared her. _Really_ **scared** her.”

Nathan nodded. “Still, I should check the scene over. Could you take me out there tomorrow? Show me the spot?”

With a sigh, Duke agreed. “Fine. Just you? Audrey’ll want to be there.”

“She will, but I'm not sure that's such a good idea. What if whatever happened has something to do with… them?” he finished vaguely, but Duke knew exactly what he meant. They still didn't have any idea how the two women shared the same memories up to the point Audrey (the detective) had come to Haven.

“Besides,” Nathan added, “it's probably a good idea if someone stays with … Audrey. The brunette. Agent Parker.”

“We need nicknames,” said Duke, not entirely joking.

Nathan nodded. “Titles will have to do for now,” he said. “Did she say anything to you on the way back? Or the way out?”

Something about the way Nathan asked it, the concern in his voice perhaps, stopped Duke from bristling too much at another detectiving question. He shrugged. “Oh the way out we talked. It's strange,” he added, thinking, “she's like Audrey, Officer Parker, but there's something just a little different, just a little more relaxed, or… Well, there was. I guess that's not really true at the moment.

“On the way back she didn't say anything. She was jumpy, scared like I said. She was concentrating on calming herself down, I think. And I wanted to just get back here as quickly as possible. I didn't want to ask the wrong question and freak her out some more.”

Nathan nodded and they both turned to Audrey as she came back to join them. “I don't know what she saw,” she said, “but I know she thought she was never going to see civilisation again. I think she's starting to relax a little. Duke, I wouldn't ask, but she's comfortable here and she shouldn't be left alone. I would have her stay with me, but until I get set up in your place above the Gull, I don't have anywhere for her to stay. And it would be awkward for her to go too far with that ankle in any case. Do you mind if she stays here tonight?”

Duke glanced over to the brunette, watching them warily from the corner. He turned back to Audrey who was waiting for his reply. He nodded. He had never been able to say no to one Audrey; what chance did he stand against two? “Sure,” he said.


	2. I Feel Safe With You

Once the two detectives had left, Duke sat down opposite Audrey, wondering how this had happened that he was hosting an FBI Agent for the night.

“I'll cook. Stir fry OK?” he asked.

Audrey nodded. “Thanks Duke,” she said.

“Do you want another drink in the meantime? Or I could put some music on?”

She shook her head. “I like the quiet,” she said. “It feels very peaceful in here.”

“Peaceful is good,” Duke replied with a smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he added and got up to start cooking.

“You should,” she told him. “This room is … not what I expected from the outside.”

“Should I take that as an insult to the outside?” he joked.

A brief smile turned to a grimace as she shifted her leg a little. “This is quite a ship. Have you travelled with it a lot?”

Duke bought himself some time to think while he rummaged in a cupboard for a chopping board. Talking to an FBI Agent about exactly how he had made his way around the world was not exactly top of his to-do list. But, something about the way she said it told him that she was just looking for a distraction; a story to take her mind off her day. He could do that, he realised. He had plenty of stories, and not all of them involved anything obviously illegal.

He cut into a pepper and started to talk.

-

After they ate, he made them both hot chocolate (hers with Baileys, his with bourbon), and they sat and talked some more.

He told her about the beaches of Goa and the cliffs of South America. He told her about the day he came face-face with a shark and the time he beat Matt Damon in a game of poker.

And after a while, she added some stories of her own. Stories from her days training with the FBI, and some of her early cases; things that had nearly gone horrendously wrong, things that had ended with the right people in jail. He tried not to think about the fact that these were Officer Parker’s stories too. It felt somehow like a liberty to learn about her life without her there. But then, these stories belonged to the woman sat across from him as well, and she had a right to tell them if she wanted.

It got late as they talked, and suddenly he realised how tired she looked. “I should let you rest,” he told her. “I’ll make up the bed in the spare room, and I think I’ve got some pijamas somewhere you can have.”

She looked reluctant, though he wasn’t sure why until she spoke. “I … I’m not sure I can sleep. If I close my eyes, I just see …” She closed her eyes briefly; apparently an experiment that proved her point as she shook them open again. “I don’t like the thought of being alone,” she admitted, eyes on the long-cold remains of her hot chocolate.

Duke considered this. In one sense he would have been happy to stay here drinking hot chocolate and trading stories all night, but they both needed sleep, her in particular. “There’s a sofa in the main bedroom,” he told her. “I’ll take that, you have the bed. I’ll find us both something to wear,” he added, and got up to do just that.

-

“Not exactly standard nightwear, but I think you’ll be comfortable,” he told her as he helped her into the bedroom where he had left a soft baggy sweater on the bed, along with a cut-off pair of sweatpants.

As he left the room to let her get changed, he grabbed a similar outfit from the sofa for himself. “You don’t own pajamas?” she asked, curious.

“I don’t usually wear anything to bed,” he replied. “Give me a shout when you’re changed? I’ll make the sofa up.”

He closed the door behind him and she was surprised at herself to notice just the slightest bit of interest somewhere deep in her brain at the thought of his usual bedtime routine.

Changed and settled on one side of the bed she called to Duke and he came back in, looking snug in a faded old top and sweatpants with holes at the knees. He opened a blanket box by the door and threw a pillow onto the sofa.

“You …” Audrey began, then stopped to add a clarification. “In the sense purely of sleeping, you’re welcome to join me here if you like. There’s plenty of room in this thing and I don’t really want to kick you out of your own bed.”

He looked over at her. It was a large bed, even for two, and she was not taking up a lot of room. But still, maybe he should take the sofa anyway.

She saw him hesitate and said again, “I don’t really like the idea of being alone.”

He smiled and closed the blanket box before turning out the light. He’d left a lamp on in the galley and that cast a gentle glow over everything; just enough to see where he was going. Not that he needed it (he knew this ship inside out and could find his way round it blindfolded), but Audrey might.

“OK?” he asked, and when she nodded he joined her.

He lay down on his back, pulled the covers over himself and rested his hands on his chest as he closed his eyes.

Audrey looked at the ceiling. “Thank you,” she said in a small voice.

“No problem,” replied Duke easily.

“She tried to tell me,” Audrey said after a moment. “The other Audrey, she tried to tell me about the Troubles. And even though she somehow has my memories, I still couldn't quite bring myself to believe her.”

Duke opened his eyes and turned his head towards her, waiting for her to go on.

“But what happened to me today… it wasn't just today.”

“Strange stuff has happened to you before?” Duke asked softly.

Her eyes briefly closed and she shook her head quickly before she carried on. “There was nothing there but an old barn. I went to investigate, but when I got inside it … wasn't a barn any more. I don't know how, or why … I don't know  _ where _ I was but … I was there for longer than an afternoon. I don't mean it just felt like forever, I mean I lived through more than a few hours.”

Duke frowned. “Days?”’ he asked, concerned.

Her head moved just a fraction side to side.

“Weeks?” he said. “Months?” watching her face for a reaction that would tell him when he was right. “Years?” he asked dumbfounded.

She started to cry as she nodded, and brought her hands to her face as if to hide her expression. He turned towards her and rested his hand on her arm. As she began to sob she turned towards him and he pulled her closer, letting her curl herself against him and rest her head on his chest. He ran his arm lightly along her back and felt more than heard her sobs; great, wracking cries that shook her whole body, even as she tried to hold them inside. 

He ran a hand lightly over her hair and spoke to her quietly. “It's OK … You're OK … Let it out … It's OK.”

Eventually she stilled, and fell asleep against him as he held her carefully and tried to work out how something like a barn could do that to a person.  And why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In reference to the mention of a poker game, if you're wondering why Matt Damon, apparently he does actually play: <https://www.pokernews.com/news/2016/12/celebrities-where-are-they-now-poker-edition-26752.htm>


	3. Audrey and Audrey

Morning came all too quickly and before he knew it, someone was banging on the door. He pulled on a sweater as he let Nathan and Audrey in, and then turned back into the galley to find coffee.

Audrey stopped in the middle of the room, her eyes on the open door to the bedroom where her apparent duplicate slept, and the covers that Duke had left thrown aside as he got up. She turned back to him, took in his sleepy-eyed look and messed up hair, and her eyes went cold.

“Did you  _ sleep with  _ her? You take advantage of traumatised women now?”

“What? No! I mean yes ‘slept with’ in the sense of  _ being asleep _ . Nothing else happened Audrey, who do you think I am?”

She backed down, had the grace to look a little contrite. 

“We talked, I said I’d make up the spare room, she said she didn’t want to be alone. We slept,” Duke spelled it out for her as he found himself a mug.

Audrey nodded and looked through the open door again to see Agent Parker still asleep. “She looks exhausted. Did she tell you anything about what happened?”

“Not much,” Duke said as he made himself a coffee, not feeling particularly inclined to offer the detectives one.

Audrey looked at him expectantly and he added, “I don’t think it’s my place to tell you what she said. Not without asking her first.”

He could see Audrey was frustrated at that, but she didn’t object. 

Duke gulped at his coffee and looked at the clock. “Give me a minute to find some clothes,” he told Nathan. “Then we can go. I’ll let her sleep,” he added to Audrey. “I told her you would stay with her while I took Nathan back out there.”

Audrey nodded. “Thanks,” she said.

-

Left alone in the galley of the Rouge, Audrey did not quite know what to do with herself. Duke had closed the bedroom door behind him when he’d got in to collect some clothes, and she wanted to leave Agent Parker to sleep as long as she wanted. Whatever exactly had happened to her, she probably needed the rest.

Audrey washed up the few things that were in the sink, made herself a coffee and browsed Duke’s bookshelves. She was a dozen pages or so into The Tommyknockers when the bedroom door opened and a sleepy looking Audrey poked her head out.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” Audrey replied, putting the book down. “You want a coffee?” she asked.

“Thanks,” Agent Parker replied and hobbled over to the sofa to join her.

“The Tommyknockers, hey? Always meant to read that.” She looked at the clock, “It’s late. Duke and Nathan went back to …?”

Her voice trailed off, but Audrey answered anyway as she handed her a coffee. “Yeah. They’ve not been gone long. Nathan said he’ll text when they’re on the way back.”

Agent Parker nodded. “Thanks,” she said.

“Did you sleep well? You look better than yesterday.”

“I slept really well; that’s the most comfy bed I’ve ever got in. This whole place is amazing; how did he get such a nice set up down here in this rusty old boat?”

Audrey could believe it was a nice bed. “I know what you mean. He has an odd sense of style sometimes, but he knows what he likes and he appreciates quality when he sees it. I think this is all his doing,” she added looking around.

Agent Parker wrapped her hands around the mug and took in the smell of the caffeine. “So are you and he …”

“Together? No!”

“You and Nathan?”

“ ...No,” Audrey replied with less certainty. 

“Are you sure? You can’t lie to yourself now,” Agent Parker said, half-serious, half-joking.

Audrey sighed. “We are not together. We work together, we’re friends. There is maybe something there, but … I don’t know. Is it a good idea to pursue that when we work together? When I don’t want to risk our friendship? When I’m also friends with Duke, and Nathan is … kinda not.”

“Right, what’s with the two of them? Sometimes they seem like brothers, sometimes like sworn enemies, I don’t really get it.”

Audrey didn’t really want to be talking about Duke and Nathan right now. She wanted to ask Agent Parker about what had happened to her out at Kick ‘Em Jenny Neck. But, she knew what the FBI agent was doing; she was talking about Duke and Nathan specifically because she didn’t want to talk about her day yesterday. And Audrey realised there was little point pushing her. She knew how she would react to that, and she knew that Agent Parker would resist it just as much.

So, she made a conscious decision to relax. “I don’t think anyone really gets it to be honest, Duke and Nathan included,” she said. “They’ve known each other forever, they were friends once I think, good friends but then … I don’t know. It doesn’t help that Nathan is a detective and Duke … does not like cops on principle. But there is more to it than that. I think they both feel betrayed, or let down by the other. But they still put a lot of trust in each other, even as they say they don’t. I don’t know, I haven’t been able to get either of them to say much about it.”

“Sometimes they bicker like an old married couple. Or ex-lovers.”

“True. Maybe they are. Were, lovers I mean,” Audrey stopped to give this idea proper consideration. “Or, almost-lovers. Actually that would explain some things you know.”

“Oh?” asked Agent Parker, encouraging her to go on.

“They are so familiar with each other, the way they move around each other, something about the way they look at each other sometimes, like;  _ we nearly had something so good _ .”

“So are you gonna ask them about it?”

“Huh. I might if I thought they would tell me anything.”

Agent Parker nodded and sipped her coffee.

Audrey watched her, seeing the tension in her shoulders and the way she held the cup. “You remember Cameron?” she asked. “Specifically, the head massages he used to give?”

“Those were amazing,” Agent Parker replied with feeling. “The  _ most  _ relaxing thing.”

“I could try and recreate one, if you like?”

“OK,” replied Agent Parker, intrigued. 

They shuffled around a little, working around Agent Parker's sore ankle. Once they got comfy, Audrey pushed her fingers into the other woman’s hair, concentrating on the memory of an ex-boyfriend’s strong hands and the way his fingers had run over her scalp. 

Judging by the little groan of pleasure Agent Parker let out, she figured she must have got it at least half-way right.

“I wonder what happened to him,” she said, thinking of the man she had not thought of in years.

“I heard he moved to L.A. He has a daughter now,” Agent Parker offered.

“Oh really?” asked Audrey, pleased. “Good for him.” She pushed her fingers against her namesake’s scalp and ran them down to her neck and around to her temples. She watched as Agent Parker's body relaxed, and saw her breathe a little deeper.

“OK?” she asked as she pulled her fingers away and they shifted back around to comfortable seating positions. 

Agent Parker nodded. “Better, thank you,” she said. After a moment she added, “I know you must be dying to ask me about what happened yesterday. I think it probably is a good idea if I tell you. Or, try to. It's… it doesn't make any sense.”

“Hey, this is Haven,” Audrey said gently. “The improbable and impossible are common place here.”

Agent Parker nodded, and began to talk. “There was a clearing. And a barn. Except, when I got inside, it wasn't a barn anymore, and I… I wasn't quite myself anymore either. I was still… there but, there were other memories, from other people, other  … times. It was the 1980s, then the 50s... To start with things were recognisably Haven, then it seemed to get further back in time and I couldn't tell any more. And there were so many … impossible and improbable things; horrific things. Unexplained deaths and impossible tortures inflicted on innocents, and none of it made any sense, and it just  _ kept going.  _ On and on, further and further back in time. Not continuously, but in jumps. From the 50s to the 20s and then the turn of the century. I lost track after a while. There was just so much death, and illness, and injury and pain.

“But the part that makes the least sense of all was who ... Sometimes there were mirrors, or polished surfaces, the still water of a pond, once or twice a painting. The people having these memories, the person seeing these things happen, she … she looked like you. She  _ was _ you, she had your face. Not our memories, but your face, and even as I knew it wasn't you I could see that somehow she was the same. She tried to help people, she  _ did  _ help people with their impossible and improbable problems. She helped Haven, but… Haven didn't seem to help her very much. She gave and gave and all that happened was that she was asked to give some more. She was always there for these people and their pain, but then something shifted and there were new people. She never got a chance to rest, the town never had a chance to thank her.

“And then, there was something else. Something else shifted and I knew for sure it was not Haven any more. I don't think … I don't think it was necessarily even Earth any more. There was a bleak landscape, empty and dark and dead. And then … Then I can't seem to hold onto the memories. There were arguments and fear, anger and … disagreement about what constituted “helping”, what constituted “punishment". I was stuck in this world that made no sense, and I was started to forget who I was, where I had come from and…. And then I was back in the woods and Duke was calling to me. And it took me a moment to remember my name, or who he was, or … anything.

“And now … I experienced those memories, but they're starting to fade. I don't think my mind can hold onto that much all at once. When I was there, I was starting to forget who I had been before. But now I'm back, that experience is starting to fade. I'm not sure whether to hope I forget it all completely or to find the loss of something that happened to me disconcerting.”

-

Out on Kick ‘Em Jenny Neck, Duke and Nathan walked through the woods.

“It was just up here,” Duke said. “The clearing just over this ridge.”

Nathan nodded. “You should stay back,” he said. “Just in case something… happens.”.

“Careful,” Duke joked, “almost sounds like you're concerned for my welfare.”

“Just need someone to tell Audrey what happened if I disappear.” It was partly a deadpan jokey response to Duke’s jibe, but the thing of it was, it was true as well. Duke stayed in the trees as Nathan walked out to the clearing.

“She was right there,” Duke said, pointing to a spot just in front of where Nathan stood. “Looking around her like … like she didn't know what trees were.”

Nathan stepped forward, into and through the spot Duke had pointed to. He walked on a little further to a patch of flat clear land. It almost looked like it had been clearer for something specific, as though someone had meant to put a building there. But there were no houses out here, and he couldn't imagine what other kind of structure of that size anyone would need in this clearing.

He walked across to the trees on the other side and then he walked all around the clearing, studying the ground for evidence. He kicked at a few sticks, picked up a few pebbles. They were just wood and stone.

He made his way back over to Duke, who was watching him amused.

“Nothing here,” Nathan said.

“I could have told you that this morning.”

Nathan huffed at him. “It's my job Duke, I had to check.”

“I know,” acknowledged Duke. “Come on, let's go see how the Audreys are doing.”

-

By the time they made it back to the Rouge it was late afternoon, and they found the Audreys curled up on the sofa together, both apparently asleep as Agent Parker’s head rested in Officer Parker’s lap. The men stopped in surprise as they saw them.

“That’s …” began Nathan.

“Kinda hot?” offered Duke.

“I was gonna go with sweet.”

“Yeah sure you were.”

Nathan shook his head at Duke and stepped forward, but Duke stopped him with a hand on his arm. “We should let them rest,” he said. “You want a beer? I got a crate up on deck, they’ll be cool enough.”

Nathan hesitated and looked back at the women, wanting to check they were OK. But he had to admit they both looked more relaxed than he’d ever seen either of them.

“Sure,” he said.


	4. The Everwood

In the days that followed, Audrey’s memories of whatever exactly it was that had happened to her out on Kick ‘Em Jenny Neck continued to fade, and her ankle continued to heal.

She moved back to her room at the Over the Way B&B, and when Duke drove her to the Gull to pick up her car, she asked him to wait while she got something from the trunk; the file she had promised him.

As he took it he didn't try to hide his surprise. “I can't believe you remembered about this,” he told her, sounding impressed as well as grateful.

“I didn't to start with,” she admitted. “And I'm not sure what it means, or exactly how it relates to your tattooed man, but I said I would give it to you, so you should have it.”

“Thank you,” he told her. “Really.”

She nodded an acknowledgement, “There's one more thing,” she said as she reached across to flip open the file. “This symbol; this is the tattoo on the man who's supposed to kill you?” she asked, pointing.

Duke nodded and she carried on, “Whatever it means, it's tied up with the history of Haven. Assuming that what I… experienced meant something, that it wasn't just my imagination. I saw this symbol in all kinds of different times and places; as tattoos, on headstones, carved into trees and on door frames. Every time period I saw, it was there. Whatever it means; it means something.”

-

The B&B was starting to feel like home, and as she used up all of the leave she was due and considered taking an extended leave of absence from the FBI, Audrey helped out on some of Haven PD’s more interesting cases.

Like the electricity Trouble that killed the Major, and passed his charisma Trouble on to a son named Chris. A son who did not seem to be the slightest bit interested in the town's adoration, nor remotely capable of dealing with it.

So it did not take him long to notice that the pretty blonde detective investigating his father's death was immune to his new charms, and apparently not much longer than that to start to fall for her. It was perhaps for the best all round, Agent Parker thought, that his infatuation did not last long either. She saw it almost the exact moment he lost interest.

It was after they had talked down Lori Fletcher with the electricity Trouble. Officer Parker had made use of Chris to do it, and it turned out that he did not appreciate being manipulated into making use of a Trouble he did not like, did not want, and had never asked for.

Agent Parker was near enough to hear without meaning to listen as he challenged Audrey about it.

“So, everyone else in this town is infatuated with me for no reason, and the one person who sees me anything like I actually am, is prepared to lie to me to get me to do what she wants. Great, that's just… great,” he shook his head as he stormed off.

Agent Parker kept her head turned as he walked past; she didn't really like his Trouble any more than he did. Once he was gone, she went to talk to Audrey, “He's got a point you know, why didn't you just tell him why you wanted him here?”

“Because I’d hoped it wouldn't be necessary. I didn't want to ask him to make use of his Trouble unless we really needed him to do it.”

“OK, but the effect was you put him in a position where he didn't have much choice. He didn't get a chance to think about it. I'm not sure that was really fair to him,” Audrey Prime said gently.

Audrey thought about this for a long moment before she replied. “The Troubles aren't fair,” she said.

-

In between these impossible cases, the two Audreys spent time together, hanging out in the apartment above the Gull, or drinking and eating in the restaurant with Nathan when Duke was working.

And when Duke wasn't working, they spent plenty of evenings hanging out on the Rouge, the four of them together. Duke would cook, or bring something home from the kitchen at the Gull. Technically the Gull didn't do takeout, but there were some advantages to being the owner after all.

So they would eat, and enjoy the food and the company, and the peacefulness of the space that Duke had created; a little sanctuary that was closed away enough and far enough on the edge of town that they could almost imagine they had left the Troubles behind for a while.

The Audreys compared stories sometimes, and occasionally they even found a memory from the time before Haven that was different for the two of them. Little things usually, the way a conversation had gone, something an ex had said. Small things, but it was something. It reminded them that, close though they were, they were still their own people. They still had their individuality, even without the things that had happened to them here.

Audrey (either of them) had not asked Duke or Nathan about the exact nature of the relationship between them when they were younger, but both the women were pleased to see that some of the tension seemed to have drained out of it now. Whether it was simply down to the passage of time, whether it had something to do with the four of them spending time together not doing much, or whether it was because of all the times the men had worked together in response to the Troubles, the women didn't know, but they were glad all the same.

When they had the time, their evenings together tended to end with them all curled up on the sofa, nominally watching a movie, but more often chatting while Audrey and Audrey traded head massages and Duke and Nathan watched them. These snug and lazy evenings were good for all of them; they helped one Audrey to feel more at home, and the other to relax a little, and all four of them could all use the chillout time.

And now and then, the two men would share a look. A look which said, ‘ _Aren't they amazing?’_ Or ‘ _We are so lucky to share this time with them.’_ Or occasionally ‘ _Maybe sweet was the right word afterall,’_ and once or twice even, ‘ _OK maybe you were right with kinda hot.’_

Because both Duke and Nathan, each in their own way were falling in love. Nathan with the partner he had been working with for months, Duke with the woman he had seen pull herself together out of the depths of an impossibly frightening and disorientating experience, and who was like her blonde counterpart, but not too much like her. She was like Officer Parker with the edges smoothed off, he thought sometimes. Maybe it was just because she was technically on leave from her job right now, but it seemed to him that she cared and she worked hard (and she did her job well), but that she did not care _too_ much.

The woman he had pulled unconscious from the water all those months ago (and Nathan along with her he thought), had a tendency to immerse herself too deeply, was at risk sometimes of giving herself over to her job so completely that there would be nothing left. That scared him a little, and it was refreshing to see that Agent Parker didn't have quite that same quality.

He looked over at the brunette who was currently relaxing into another head massage. She was determined without being ruthless, focused without being obsessed. She had been strong enough to hold it together when the world was snatched from her, and brave enough to talk about it when she found her way back. He couldn't help but be impressed by her.

-

They worked on more Troubles together; sometimes just the two HPD detectives, sometimes the three law enforcement officers as Audrey helped out, and sometimes the four of them as Duke helped too when they needed him.

There was the dispute between families that brought deadly vegetation to life, the groundhog day Trouble that had Audrey watch all three of them die in her arms before she was able to resolve it, and a family whose men and boys lost the ability to breathe air and had to take refuge in the sea.

It was mind blowing stuff, it was impossible but it happened anyway, and they worked together to fix it, the four of them together often enough.

They were in Audrey and Nathan's office in the station one lunch time, talking over their latest theory about Kick ‘Em Jenny Neck with Duke while they ate, when Vince and Dave joined them, looking around the room at the four of them as though something needed explaining.

“What's up?” asked Nathan, prompting them into conversation.

“Well,” began Vince, “it sounds like something out of Scooby Doo, but apparently Old Joe McReedy is complaining that the fairground up at Everwood is haunted.”

“The gossip in the club is that Joe is manufacturing the ‘haunting’ himself,” Dave added.

“You and your damn club,” Vince muttered under his breath.

Nathan was looking thoughtful, Duke bemused, but both Officer and Agent Parker were simply confused. “Who is Joe McReedy?” they asked together.

After a brief double-take at the synchronised question, Nathan answered, “Old Joe McReedy is the caretaker up at the Everwood resort.”

“Haven has a holiday resort?” asked Officer Parker, surprised.

Nathan shook his head, “It’s up the coast a little and it was never finished. Great big hulk of half-built building with a half-built and abandoned fun fair alongside it.”

“Sounds pretty Scooby Doo,” Agent Parker acknowledged.

“Even more so if it turns out he's playing tricks to keep people away. But it doesn't sound like somewhere that would get a lot of visitors anyway. What would he get out of faking a haunting?” Officer Parker asked.

“That's what we wondered,” said Dave.

“And since you're the closest thing to a gang of meddling kids we know, we thought we'd better tell you, see if you can get to the bottom of it,” said Vince.

“It could be a Trouble,” Dave added, a little unnecessarily.

“Yeah, we got that Dave, thanks,” said Nathan.

“And now that I think about it, the four of you could do a decent impression of the Scooby gang,” Vince told them as they left. Agent Parker held the door open for him, “Thanks Velma,” he joked.

She raised her eyebrows but didn't comment.

“‘Velma’, I like it,” said Duke.

“Guess that makes you Daphne,” Nathan told Audrey.

The two women shared a look for a moment before Audrey replied to Nathan, “Alright Fred.”

Nathan frowned at Duke’s laugh more than the idea of the name. “You realise that makes you Shaggy,” he pointed out.

Duke’s face went through a complicated series of reactions, starting at dismay and ending on a kind of triumph. “You're just jealous of my Scooby Snacks,” he said.

“Alright boys,” Audrey cut in. “Me and Velma here'll go and check it out. Duke do you want a lift back to the Gull on the way?”

-

“Well that was a big bunch of nothing,” ‘Daphne’ told Nathan later that day. “As far as we can tell, all that’s happening is that the place is falling apart, creaking and groaning as it slowly collapses into itself.”

“Ah,” replied Nathan.

“It’s a shame, really, but I don’t see any way to do anything about it.”

Nathan nodded. “Velma not with you?” he asked.

“I dropped her off at the Gull, she wanted to get some food.”

“Wanted to see Duke, more like,” Nathan pointed out.

“Well, can’t a girl do both?” Audrey said, smiling.

“They’re getting close.”

“Yeah I think they are. It’s nice.” When Nathan didn’t reply, Audrey prompted him, “Don’t you think?”

“I … it’s really none of my business. I wasn’t sure how you would feel about it.”

Audrey shrugged. “I like spending time with her. If Duke gives her an extra reason to stay in Haven, then that’s good. Besides, we can use the extra help. Experienced FBI Agents who understand the Troubles don’t just turn up every day.”

“Don’t know about that,” Nathan replied with the tiniest little smile. “Seems to be a fairly regular occurrence.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [@queenbookwench](http://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbookwench/pseuds/queenbookwench) for the Velma and Daphne nicknames suggestion.


End file.
